opinion on tritium pearl

[larryccf]

I'm not that familiar with luminova pearls but rcvd an insert that is represented as NOS with tritium pearl.

I've placed a loose known tritium pearl just above the subject pearl and while i don't know luminova, it would seem if it were tritium, there'd be some aging as tritium hasn't been used for quite a while, NOS or not, and the white color filling the entire pearl out to it's edges would seem to be what luminova would look like

any assist appreciated

[dommasters]

I think it's Tritium. It's not SuperLuminova.

[larryccf]

any reaction to UV light - neither the "specs" glowing, nor the entire pearl glowing the way luminova would

[larryccf]

i contacted 3 folks offline, 1 fairly knowledgeable i'd met and 2 recognized experts from the vintage rolex forum, and one said he felt it wasn't a tritium and the two from vintage rolex forum indicated they felt it was tritium as they'd seen similiar all white tritium

vintage elements have a wide range of interpretations which is my biggest worry about authenticating vintage watches

anyway, fwiw

[dommasters]

99% sure it is Tritium. I'm quite obsessive about things that glow in the dark :) Does it glow very very faintly? You may have to let your eyes adjust to the darkness for 10 minutes or so to be able to tell. Unless it is very old then the half life of tritium should ensure there is some level of glow.

[larryccf]

i did hit it with UV light, and couldn't get any reaction, ie the glowing specs you sometimes see in dead tritium markings, and the known tritium pearl above the insert's pearl, does not show any glowing specs either, so the UV light test is not a conclusive one

i'll try tonite, sit in the dark for ten minutes or so and see if it shows any glow

tks for that suggestion though - it hadn't occurred to me

my main concern is if and when i put it up for sale, i don't want to mis-represent it as tritium if it's not

[springer]

Originally Posted by larryccf

i did hit it with UV light, and couldn't get any reaction, ie the glowing specs you sometimes see in dead tritium markings, and the known tritium pearl above the insert's pearl, does not show any glowing specs either, so the UV light test is not a conclusive one

i'll try tonite, sit in the dark for ten minutes or so and see if it shows any glow

tks for that suggestion though - it hadn't occurred to me

my main concern is if and when i put it up for sale, i don't want to mis-represent it as tritium if it's not

Larry, the whiter pearl appears to be tritium. Take it a dark room tonight, place a flashlight on it for a few seconds and see if it glows.

[larryccf]

Originally Posted by springer

Larry, the whiter pearl appears to be tritium. Take it a dark room tonight, place a flashlight on it for a few seconds and see if it glows.

I should have mentioned, I had already tried that and it showed no lume, so i assume that rules out luminova of any type.

curious, does anyone know off the top of their heads, when Tritium went out of use, and luminova came into use?

[xela]

Quite sure it is tritium.. I also have a tritium pearl of this colour..

[springer]

Originally Posted by larryccf

I should have mentioned, I had already tried that and it showed no lume, so i assume that rules out luminova of any type.

curious, does anyone know off the top of their heads, when Tritium went out of use, and luminova came into use?

I believe it was late 1998/99.

[larryccf]

time to age - i assumed it was mid to late 70s.

PS - just occurred to me, i think you're right - memory is coming back there was a big stink in the mid 90s with rolex having a problem at US customs bringing in watches with tritium and it was right after that everyone went to luminova

i've been away for 3+ years and it takes time to wake up old memory - tks for that

[larryccf]

then woke up, found the insert on the night table, and took a bit but i saw some glow, real real slight but i know it was the pearl as i put my finger on the glow and it was the pearl.

as it was so slight (plus i'm 62 and the eyes aren't any younger) i rotated it twice and each time found the pearl where the glow was

what really tripped me up was not remembering tritium was still being used in the mid to late 90s -

tks for the help guys -

[larryccf]

since i terminated my photobucket account, the orig pix is not available, so i figured i'd reload it for anyone researching this topic

[mbc]

Looks like tritium to me as well. Just as dial plots age to different colors, so do pearls. I have a lighter pearl and a darker pearl on a 1680 and a 5513, respectively. Looks fine.

[ravenhome777]

Is tritium importation really illegal? I thought it was just frowned upon. I remember awhile ago I had dug up this article, but I don't think I have the willfullness to read all the legal-ese jargon:
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-c...full-text.html

[roh123]

Consider the possibility that they are just filled with paint. With people paying 200+ usd for a pearl it is not too difficult to remove the lume from new luminova pearls and just fill them with whatever.

[larryccf]

Originally Posted by ravenhome777

Is tritium importation really illegal? I thought it was just frowned upon. I remember awhile ago I had dug up this article, but I don't think I have the willfullness to read all the legal-ese jargon:
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-c...full-text.html

no not illegal just a super pain in the backside paperwork wise. I imported some tritium replacement pistol sights for the HK MK23 pistol, same pistol that was "designed by committee" for the Navy Seals, who for the most part didn't like a "crew served" handgun.

Going thru customs i became alerted to the fact i had to secure, amongst other agencies, FDA approval and they were about as user friendly as a bad rash. Took over six months, included having to engrave each one with nuclear symbol.

A military unit down in Little Creek, VA bought all i had and wanted more - i gave them the seller's contact info in Switzerland and said, be my guest. I'd rather have teeth pulled without the benefit of anesthesia.

[larryccf]

Originally Posted by mbc

Looks like tritium to me as well. Just as dial plots age to different colors, so do pearls. I have a lighter pearl and a darker pearl on a 1680 and a 5513, respectively. Looks fine.

That pix is from the date of the original post, ie 2012. it's since aged to a slight creamy yellow, approaching the shade of the 9411's plot markers on the dial. Hopefully, in 10 more years it'll match

[ravenhome777]

Interesting. Were these sights with painted tritium or sights with the tritium tubes in it?

I still don't understand how tritium paint works, exactly. It doesn't seem like it really should work, because tritium is a gas. I think I remember reading somewhere that there's some sort of slow-release tritium property in the paint or something. I remember I did a bunch of research into it a couple years ago. I think I reached a vague answer about how it worked, but now I forget what the answer was. I think it was something about "Tritiated" oxygen or something like that.

[ravenhome777]

Originally Posted by ravenhome777

Interesting. Were these sights with painted tritium or sights with the tritium tubes in it?

I still don't understand how tritium paint works, exactly. It doesn't seem like it really should work, because tritium is a gas. I think I remember reading somewhere that there's some sort of slow-release tritium property in the paint or something. I remember I did a bunch of research into it a couple years ago. I think I reached a vague answer about how it worked, but now I forget what the answer was. I think it was something about "Tritiated" oxygen or something like that.

Oh ya, here it is!
https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=656488